New York Dreaming
by EtherealWritings
Summary: When Elena started college in New York, she never expected a life there. That was exactly what she got. A life that would be turned upside down the moment Damon becomes part of it. He makes her reach for the goals she thought to be impossible to accomplish. He makes her question every belief she's ever had, and most of all, he makes her a different person. For better or worse?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I'm very excited to be publishing my first story here on FanFiction and I really hope that you are going to enjoy it! FYI you should be aware that my story is completely based off the TV series and not the books since I have yet to read the books. So I am aware that for example Elena has blonde hair in the books, but she will not have that in my story, it messes with my head. Hope you will still like it! I'm going to start by publishing the first couple of chapters and see what you guys think of it :) So don't forget to leave a review so I know if you want me to continue or not!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters.**

The wind was chilly as it blew between my fingers and tangled my hair into a bird's nest. My eyes were starting to sting from all the cold air they'd have to suffer through during the 10 hour car drive with an open window, but I didn't have a care in the world. After all... In a hundred years, who would give a crap about a pair of stinging eyes?

In the background, a song I didn't recognize was playing on low volume. I glanced over at my little brother who was driving. I'd driven for the first three hours but after that, I'd been close to falling asleep behind the steering wheel. I couldn't see how that was going to end well and neither did Jeremy, so he'd taken over the driving.

I glanced over at my baby brother. I was starting to realize that Jeremy was becoming a man. I was starting my sophomore year in college and he was in his senior year of high school. It was kind of hard to process that. The fact that, he would soon be going off and doing the things he wanted to. During my freshmen year in college, the hardest part had been to separate from my brother. To live in a place where there wasn't a single trace of him. No loud music playing from the room beside mine or skilled drawing taped up along the walls all around the house.

I was starting to get emotional and had to suppress a sob from escaping me. It didn't go unnoticed however. Jeremy turned a little in his seat, still keeping his eyes on the road, but every so often he turned his gaze to me for a split second.

"Elena?" he said, making my name a question. I stared out the windshield, straight ahead. "Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded but didn't say anything, afraid words would fail me. The sigh he gave clearly told me that he didn't believe me. "Come on, Elena. I know you better than that. Just tell me what's wrong." It was my turn to sigh.

"I'm going back to college which means you're going to live by yourself again," I said, feeling his eyes on me.

I opened my mouth to tell him to keep his eyes on the road but just then, he turned around and spoke again, "Elena..." A shake of his head. "I'll be fine. New York isn't that far from Virginia. If something happens, it takes a couple of hours to drive," Jeremy soothed me. Not that it actually helped. I was still upset with this whole situation. Frustration was getting the best of me. It willed me to break something - several things actually.

"It's a seven hour drive, and that without traffic. We've driven for nine hours and we have _at least_ ," I emphasized the two last words. "one hour left." Another sigh came from the two of us in unison. He sighed because he knew what I was thinking and I sighed because of what I was thinking about.

"Don't say it, Elena," Jeremy warned.

I said it anyway, "I wish Mom and Dad where here." I saw his knuckles turn white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. I knew that bringing our parents up was a sensitive topic, but I didn't want to pretend that things wouldn't be easier if they were here. Because truth to be told, if they were, things definitely would be easier. Leaving Jeremy at home would be easier, because I'd know that someone was at home, keeping an eye on him. Not that I didn't trust Jeremy - because I did - but because he was only seventeen, soon to be eighteen, years old. And although he would soon be of legal age, the idea of leaving him all by himself yet another year, terrified me. It literally gave me goose bumps along my arms and legs.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I made it last year and I'll make it this year too. Even if you'd been home, I would've moved out to live by myself soon anyways. So really, don't worry," he paused, looking deep in thought. "You've been the greatest big sister ever since Mom and Dad passed away. You took care of me so that I could live my life like a normal teenager, and now it's your time to live your life the way you want to live it." His words brought tears to my eyes but I blinked them away. In a way, I knew he was right. Ever since Mom and Dad died, I hadn't been living. At least, I hadn't been living the way I'd wanted to live my life. I'd just gone through each, hoping that the pain would ease off. It had after a couple of years, but it wasn't until last year - my freshmen year in college - that I'd been able to let go for real. All that was thanks to my two best friends, Stefan Salvatore and Caroline Forbes. They truly built my world, making me able to live in it without suffocating from loss of air. I had a lot to thank them for.

Remembering that I had less than an hour before I'd get to meet them again, made a smile spread over my lips. Jeremy smiled back at me before turning his eyes back to the road and keeping them there for the rest of the drive.

Getting out of a car and stretching my legs had never felt so good in my entire life. Even better was the fact that I wouldn't have to get into that car anytime soon. The traffic through New York City had been horrible so it had taken us two extra hours just to drive through the city. Luckily, once past the city, the traffic rolled quite well and it took us less than ten minutes to get to the campus. I didn't live on the campus but I had to hand in all my papers before the term started. I lived five minutes away from the campus, in an apartment just outside of New York City. It had been an expensive apartment but Jeremy had convinced me to use some of our parents' savings in order to be able to buy it. During last year I had fallen in love with it and its location. It had been hard to leave and I'd considered asking Jeremy whether he wanted to come and spend the summer in New York with me. However, I hadn't since it had felt cruel to basically straight out tell him that I didn't want to come home, that I'd found a new home.

"I really should get going," Jeremy announced as I was happily looking around the campus, remembering all the great memories I'd gained here. As he spoke that sentence, I turned around so fast my head began to spin.

"What? Why?" I exclaimed. Jeremy shook his head and gave me sad smile.

"You're home now, Elena. It's time for me to go to the place I consider home." What he said made me sad. I didn't want my brother to think I didn't consider Mystic Falls my home any longer. I did. Sort of. The problem with Mystic Falls and Virginia was that my life there had been all about grief and growing up too fast. I hadn't had any real friends that I actually wanted to keep in contact with after graduation and it always felt as if the house was haunted by the ghosts of my parents. In Mystic Falls, I couldn't move on from what had happened.

In New York however, everything was different. It was a huge city with a huge population and I had friends here, lots of them. New York was the place where I lived my life to its full capacity. I didn't hesitate. I had no responsibility except from going to my classes and making it to every party that was thrown nearby. New York... it was my second chance.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay over, just for tonight? I have an extra bedroom and I really don't like you getting on the roads again after such a long drive," I replied, frowning at him. That sad smile turned into more of a happy smile instead. That at least, made _me_ a bit happier.

"Don't worry, I want to get home as soon as possible. If I get too tired, I'll stay over at a motel."

"Do you need money in case you want to stop somewhere? Grab something to eat?" I asked, concern most likely written all over my face. Jeremy laughed.

"No I don't need money for food," he chuckled while speaking. "I can take the money however and spend it on drugs," he teased. I smacked his arm, hard too.

"Jeremy!" I yelled his name at him. "Don't say things like that!"

"Okay, okay, stop!" he shouted between fits of laughter. It took a couple of minutes for him to calm down enough to smile at me, take one step closer and embrace me in a bear hug. Jeremy wasn't a hugger, so I was kind of surprised me when he did indeed hug me. It made me smile like a complete lunatic. I hugged him back, squeezing him tight against me.

"I'm going to miss you," I whispered into his ear. One tight squeeze back from him and then he let go and got into his car. He waved through the windshield and then sped off, without as much as a goodbye.

I watched the car drive off, down the same road it'd taken to get here. Too deep in thought to notice someone calling my name, I was surprised when that someone came up from behind and I was caught in a warm embrace. I looked behind me and saw a familiar face. I was immediately put in a better, brighter mood.

"Stefan!" I exclaimed and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving his cheek a light peck. I couldn't believe it had been almost three months since I'd last seen him. From the beginning of June to the end of August. Stefan hugged me back, squeezing me just as tight as I was squeezing him.

"It's good to see you're alive, Elena," he said. That made me laugh. According to Stefan, I was apparently always putting myself in dangerous situations I wasn't able to handle or control. He always told me that one day I was going to get myself killed. Once I had tried out his motorcycle without any experience whatsoever. Luckily, I managed to get away with a mild concussion and some nasty bruises. I didn't think it was such a big deal, but of course, Stefan got upset if I so much as dared to get into a car and not put my seatbelt on.

"Missed you too," I replied as I rolled my eyes at his previous sarcasm. He let go of me and lightly kissed my forehead, a gesture I'd gotten used to by now. "Where's Caroline?" I asked. Stefan shrugged.

"When I spoke to her on the phone earlier, she was on her way. Said she thought she was coming around 11.00 pm." I nodded in response and felt eagerness creep up along my spine. The thought of getting to hang out with Caroline and Stefan, the three of us together again, made me want to jump in excitement. Last year had been a blast and we were definitely making this year even better!

"I should head home, I have a lot to unpack," I stated after a minute of silence had passed. Stefan gave me a curious look.

"I thought you left everything in your apartment when you went home to Virginia?" A question, not a statement.

I nodded in a agreement, "I did, but I had some stuff I wanted to bring with me when I went here."

"Well, in that case I won't keep you any longer. I'll call you when Caroline is here and we can all go eat somewhere to celebrate that we're back together." I nodded eagerly. That was a great idea. I'd missed them so much, and reuniting with my two best friends was definitely something worth celebrating.

"Sounds great. Call me!" With that, I headed over to the bus station, bags in hand. I was so ready to go home.

Stefan called me at 10.45 pm and told me to 'get my ass over to the campus and bring my car'. He hadn't said anything else but just hung up. I was already dressed in a white t-shirt and black jeans, and ready to leave, so I grabbed my car keys and headed down to the garage. The drive to the campus didn't take long. It was too late for the traffic to be at its peek. The weather wasn't great. Rain was pouring down and lightning was casting a brightness over the dark night sky. I sat in my car, waiting for Caroline and Stefan to come but they were both running late. Watching the sky light up every so often, I stepped out of my car, letting the rain soak my clothes and hair. I'd always thought thunder and lightning was something beautiful, and I thought the same now as I watched it. I was aware that by the time my friends got here, my t-shirt would be completely see-through, my jeans sticking disgustingly to my legs and my sneakers would be filled up with water. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to wear a black bra underneath the white t-shirt, but by the time I left the apartment, the rain had yet to come. And the fabric in the t-shirt was thick so the bra usually wasn't visible through it, therefore I had just grabbed the most comfortable bra I owned. Not that I was worried either Stefan or Caroline would worry. They had seen me in my underwear more times than I'd like to admit.

A text made my phone vibrate, which dragged me out of my stupor.

 _Caroline can't find her room key. She can't leave until she's found it. Can you please come help us look!? You know what room ;)_

The text was from Stefan and after reading it, I shook my head in disbelief. It hadn't even been a day and Caroline was already losing stuff.

Still looking down at my phone, I headed to the dormitory of the campus. However, I didn't make it very far. After just a few steps, I walked straight into something, losing my balance and almost falling backwards. Luckily, that something that I now realized was a someone, gripped my upper arm and pulled me back up, against a hard and muscular chest.

I looked up and the person I'd just bumped into. I was first only met by that chest, but as I tilted my head up I saw _his_ face. He was watching me intently with bright blue eyes. The man was really, like _really_ handsome, with those blue eyes and black hair that was messy after being soaked by the rain. He was tall and well built, his light blue t-shirt also soaked and fitted to show off his muscular biceps and chest. When I tore my eyes away from his gorgeous body and finally looked at his face again, he looked annoyed.

"Will you please watch your step?" he snarled at me. I was shocked to hear the accusation in his harsh voice. I took three quick steps backwards, creating a good - and needed - distance between us.

"Excuse me?" Compared to his voice, mine sounded weak, the voice of a little girl who was lost in the woods. The man gestured to my phone.

"You teens keep burying your noses in the screens of your phones, look what happens. An accident we could've easily avoided if you'd been watching where you were going," he explained, still sounding like he was tasting something sour. I raised both my eyebrows at him in surprise. I wasn't sure what to answer.

"Uhm, I'm sorry..." Was the best thing I could come up with. The man kept watching me and suddenly I saw something flare in those eyes. I wasn't entirely sure what it was but I could've bet that it was something like... Recognition?

He surprised me when he spoke his next words, "You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

 **So the first chapter is a little short but I wanted to end it right there to get a bit of excitement rising. Please tell me what you think and I'll be working on the next chapter!**

 **XO**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back :D And with another chapter! I really hope you liked the first one. This story will start taking on its plot now when Elena and Damon has met, and God only knows what kind of trouble Damon Salvatore is bringing with him...**

 **Happy reading!**

"You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." The sentence stole the breath out of my lungs. Having my name put in the same sentence as 'Damon', 'Stefan' and 'brother' was just crazy. If Stefan had a brother, he would've told me, wouldn't he? And by the way, what was this guy's problem? One second, he was pissed at me for running into him and almost falling on my ass, and the next, he was telling me that he's Stefan's brother, all smiles and gentlemanly. It pissed me off. However, the feeling of surprise from finding out that Stefan has a brother was stronger, so instead of yelling at him, my voice sounded casual.

"I didn't know Stefan had a brother," I replied after a minute of silence. Stefan's brother looked at me with a sly smile on his face - Damon was his name?

"I'm usually not the first person Stefan tells his girlfriends about," Damon chuckled and the sound was like music to my ears. I couldn't say I'd ever enjoyed hearing someone laugh, but Damon's laugh... It was truly a one of a kind. But as soon as my brain registered what he'd just said, my mood sank and the annoyance came back to me.

"I'm not Stefan's girlfriend," I replied, with more bitterness to my voice than I'd intended. I sounded as if I'd tasted something sour, like the idea of dating Stefan disgusted me. This of course got Damon's attention. He was immediately watching me with an amused look in his eyes. Happy my bad mood got someone else in a good one.

"Interesting..." Was all Damon said, then paused. A long minute of silence - which felt like at least ten minutes - passed before he spoke again. "He talks about you a lot, you know." I glanced up at him when he said that. I'm not sure what exactly to say, so I just shrug and settle for, "Stefan's my best friend."

"I actually just came from seeing him. He seems to be doing good," Damon said, smiling. There I had another reason to why Stefan was late. He'd been getting a surprise visit from his brother. I tried to smiled back at him but something about this guy bugged me. Maybe it was the fact that he was perfection personified, or that his charms totally made me feel like the fat, ugly kid in kindergarten whom all the other kids bullied. But it was Stefan's brother, and I just couldn't treat him badly. So despite how much it hurt my pride, I plastered on a smile.

"I think Stefan will be here in just a minute if the two of you wants to say goodbye to each other," I told him. Something about what I said made Damon's eyes go larger and I could literally feel the unease pour off him.

"Actually," he began. "I should get going. There's someone waiting for me in the city and I don't want to keep her waiting." I didn't miss that he said it was a woman, 'keep _her_ waiting'. It shouldn't bother me, it really shouldn't. For Christ sake! I'd known the guy for five minutes and I was already getting jealous because he was seeing other women. It wasn't like I was his long lost lover.

 _Get a grip of yourself, Elena,_ a sane part of me screamed at the not-so-sane part.

I heard Stefan's voice call over the yard and I looked over to where I saw his figure, along with another, smaller one, came walking over the grass towards me. When I glanced back at Damon, he was looking straight at me, an intense look in his eyes. It only lasted a few seconds though, before that charming smile lit up his face once again. He took my hand, brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. The gesture surprised me so much I gasped.

"It was lovely meeting you..." he trailed off, glancing over to where Stefan and Caroline was still walking. Without looking at me, he finished the sentence with, "Elena." It was too dark outside to make out his features but a sudden flash of light from the thunder, showed his beautiful face to me once again. Only for the fraction of a second, but it was enough...

Before I knew it, Damon had walked away from me and was now driving towards the city in his car. Just as the car was out of sight, Stefan and Caroline reached me. I hadn't even noticed that the rain had stopped pouring.

"Who was that?" Stefan asked, with a soft smile on his lips.

"It was-"

"-I really don't care who that was," Caroline interrupted me. "For all I care, it could be Brad Pitt asking you to have his baby, but I. Don't. Care."

"Yeah, but-"

Again, she interrupted me, "-No buts! Tonight, I'm planning on eating a damn good meal and then drinking until I can't stand up straight. In fact, I'm getting so drunk that the two of you are going to have to carry me all the way here!" A wide smile spread over her lips. It had been long since I'd seen Caroline and seeing her happy made me smile even broader than she managed.

Damon long since forgotten, I folded Caroline up in a tight embrace. "I missed you, Care." She hugged me back, now all serious.

"I missed you too."

Caroline did get drunk. Like promised, so drunk she couldn't even stand up. I got drunk too, really drunk. While Stefan was busy holding Caroline up so that she wouldn't fall, I got the brilliant idea of getting up on the bar and start dancing. After a couple more shots of tequila or whatever the hell that devil's poison was, I didn't remember much more. People were cheering me on, clothes came off, piece by piece. Most importantly, I danced and enjoyed myself for the first time since I'd gone home. No, not home. Gone to Mystic Falls. The place that had once been, but no longer was my home. This, the college, New York, the apartment, that was my home now. And I loved home.

I wasn't sure how I got home when I woke up the next morning. Of course, that wasn't the first thing on my mind when I woke up. No, the first thing on my mind was the pounding headache and the need to throw up. I rushed to the toilet and heaved up all of last night's mistakes. Like all people do when they're in this phase of being drunk, I swore to myself that I wouldn't never, ever drink again. That promise would most likely last until tonight. School still hadn't started and now was the time to enjoy being a college student. Once all the exams were starting, partying was the last thing you should consider.

I got to my feet, carefully, holding onto the wall the entire way, I made my way into the kitchen. I got myself a glass of icy cold water, then frowned when I saw what was odd. My purse was laying on one of the kitchen stools. I never put it there. I never found whenever I did and therefore I always left it by my coat. Stefan and Caroline did too. On the table lay my keys to the car and apartment, beside those lay my phone. _What the hell?_

I walked over to the fridge, wanting to get some orange juice. I was just about to open it when I saw the blue post-it. I stared at it for a second, trying to take it what was written on it. With an elegant handwriting, it stood scribbled down,

 _Dear Elena,_

 _Hope you don't feel too bad this morning. I left all of your belongings by the kitchen table, they should be easy enough to spot. I guessed your parking spot was the same as the number on your apartment, 259, hopefully I was correct._

 _Please give me a call so that I know that you're OK._

 _\- D_

After that, a number was written down. I kept staring at the note. D? I didn't know a lot of people whom could be D. The only person I could think of was... No. No way. There was no way in hell that Damon Salvatore just happened to stumble upon me last night and drove me home. I mean, how could he even know where I lived? What building out of the five ones looking exactly alike? And the number of my apartment? No, it was impossible. Damon had gone to see a friend... in the city. Oh my God. What if he'd gone to see a friend in the city at one of the most popular bars in all of New York City. But still, he couldn't possibly know what car was mine when he was driving me home, and not in which building and apartment I lived in. Mysterious 'D' had to be someone else. I just had to try to recall whom it could be. Maybe someone from my classes? I mean there were several people who started with a D, but none of whom I was particularly close to. Guess I just had to call that number and see who picked up.

I grabbed my phone and typed in the number that stood scribbled on the post-it note. I hesitated before pushing the call button. I was sure it had to be someone from the college, no one else knew me that closely here in New York.

I pressed the call button and waited. And waited. And waited. Just as I was about to hang up, a voice answered, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to ask this, but who is this?" A long silence stretched between the person on the end and myself. I waited for them to answer my question and when they did, I could literally hear the smile in the voice.

"Elena, it's Damon. Damon Salvatore."

The 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible pulled up in front of my apartment building. It was blue, a pale one, almost shifting in a gray-ish shade. I watched as Damon got out of the car and made his way into the building. Again, I wondered how the hell Damon knew where I lived. It was kind of creepy when I thought about it.

It didn't take more than a minute before I heard the knock on my door and I went to open it up. There, not unexpected, stood Damon Salvatore. When I looked at him, I felt as if I was doing something illegal. It _should_ be illegal to look at him. The man was more than gorgeous. He was utterly flawless, just perfect in every way. I mean, Stefan was good looking, really good looking, but Damon... man oh man.

He leaned against the door post which made his white t-shirt stretch tight over his chest. I suppressed a sigh. I wanted to have my hands all over that chest. Touch the hard surface and just melt into him. Oh Christ, I was going out of my fucking mind. Crazy, mad, insane, call it whatever you want but whatever it was, I was it. But honestly though, who could actually blame me?

"Hello, Elena," Damon's voice shrugged me out of dreaming-of-Damon-land.

"Damon..." I trailed off. He was here. Here because I'd asked him to come. Why had I even done that? Oh, that's right! I'd wanted to tell him that it was not okay, not normal, for a person to take someone you met the same day and spoke to for five minutes, home when they were drunk of their ass.

"I get if you find it odd that I brought you home last night," he said, stealing the words straight out of my mouth. I couldn't say anything so I just nodded. He nodded back at me and continued, "Look... I'm sorry if I scared you. I was seeing a friend at the bar last night and then all of a sudden, I saw you jump up on the bar and start dancing. I knew that you were too drunk. When I tried to locate your friends, they were both drinking too much. I'm going to kill Stefan for being that irresponsible by the way, leaving you so vulnerable-"

I interrupted him, "-I'm not a child, Damon. Stefan if not responsible if something happens to me. I can take care of himself."

"Yes, I'm sure you can, but he should know better, that's all I'm saying. Either way, I saw you, knew you wouldn't be able to get home on your own and since my hotel was quite close to your apartment, I brought you home." It sounded so simple when he said it, like anyone would've done it. The thing was, it wasn't simple. It wasn't the kind of thing someone just did.

"How did you know where I live?" I asked, maybe the most important question of them all. It wasn't like he could just bring me to a random apartment in New York City and hope that the key fit in the lock.

Damon shrugged. "Stefan told me when I saw him earlier yesterday." I didn't know what surprised me the most. That Stefan had told him where I lived or that he'd paid attention to that little detail. "Let me make it up to you," he said, out of the blue. I'd been looking down at my feet but now my head shot up and I stared straight into his eyes. They were so blue and so incredibly bright. They reminded me of when the sun reflects of the bluest of oceans, or when the moon is lighting the night sky. How come that Damon Salvatore with his fair skin and raven black hair got those eyes?

"And how exactly would you make it up to me?" The words just flew out of my mouth. It was ridiculous. Damon didn't have anything to make up to me. The man had saved me from doing the worst mistake of my life for God's sake! So why was I agreeing to him 'making it up to me'? It was all insanity!

"How about letting me take you to dinner?" Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Damon continued, "Great! I'll pick you up at 6.00pm on Saturday." Again, I opened my mouth to protest, but he beat me to it. "Do you have plans on Saturday already?" I shook my head and neither this time did he give me the chance to tell him that, no, I couldn't go to dinner with him. He had practically saved my life last night, because who knew all the stupid things I could run off to do when I was drunk off my ass. So why was I letting him take me to dinner? _Because he's not giving you an opportunity to turn him down,_ a small voice in my head told me.

When he stood in the door, halfway out already, he waved to me and said, "See you Saturday," he paused and smirked at me, ending with, "Elena." My name had never sounded like it had a thousand different meanings.


	3. Chapter 3

**So finally we're here! Chapter three! This is the chapter where I REALLY need your opinion! Do like the story? Would you like me to continue writing? Thank you on before-hand!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own TVD or any of its characters!**

When someone tells you that they're taking you to dinner, you imagine the whole 'candle lit dinner with roses on the table and a piano playing in the background' thing. New York of all places would be the perfect city to pull that off. Damon Salvatore had other plans however. We now stood in front of McDonalds in Times Square. I didn't get it. When he'd showed up at my place this evening, dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans, I'd been a bit surprised but hadn't given it much thought. Now I just felt really dressed up in my skin-tight black dress and high heels.

I looked over at Damon, asking him with my eyes whether he was serious or not. Knowing Damon - not that I actually did know him - this could all be a big joke. He shrugged.

"I didn't know what you liked to eat and everyone likes McDonalds," he said, smirking down at me. So he really was intending for us to eat here.

"Damon," I sighed. "I can't go in there like this." Like it was obvious. He looked confused as he watched me, examining me from top to toe. He apparently found no fault in the way I was dressed.

That was confirmed when he said, "What? You look beautiful."

"Yeah, thanks, but I just can't." I started to walk away but Damon gripped my wrist and spun me back around.

"Why not?" He still didn't get it.

"It's embarrassing, Damon. I'm not dressed for eating at McDonalds. If you'd told me we were going here, I would've dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, not a dress." At that, he laughed outright. Now I was confused. What was so funny about this?

"Elena, you shouldn't dress to impress others... You do it no matter what you wear. You shouldn't be embarrassed. All people will do is envy you for your stunning body and beautiful face. And really, you shouldn't give a crap about what others think of you. You're beautiful." His words shocked me into silence. I just stood there, looking at him. I hadn't even notice until now that his hand was still gripping my wrist, not hard but instead very gentle. I was struck by a thought: who was Damon Salvatore? Who was he really? Because on the outside, he wasn't your mother's ideal son-in-law, but whenever I was around him, he was so gentle with me. So sweet and caring, even if he had that stone cold surface. A part of me really wanted to try to poke some holes in that surface and see what lay underneath.

"Now," he said, interrupting yet another one of my Damon-day-dreams. I looked at him and noticed that he was now gripping my hand instead of my wrist. "will you please come inside and eat with me? I'm starving." I still wanted to run in the other direction, too insecure to walk in there. Something in the way Damon's hand held mine though, firm but gentle, made me nod, gaining the confidence to step inside the fast-food restaurant and order myself a burger in a black dress and high heels.

I didn't think I'd ever had so much fun in my entire life. Damon and I sat at a table for two, on the second floor, next to the windows which gave a beautiful view over Times Square. It hadn't taken more than five minutes of sitting there and talking to him before I forgot all about the people giving me weird looks and whispered behind my back. Sure I was really out of place in my attire, but Damon's words stuck with me. I didn't have to care what other's thought. I hadn't forgotten about the rest either. Damon thought I was beautiful. I'd heard people call me 'hot' and 'sexy' before, but never had anyone called me beautiful. It was something that people said when you came all dressed up, like at graduation or prom. People said, "Oh, you look beautiful!" but it wasn't something that was meant for _me_. You were kind of obligated to tell everyone that. I'd told everyone that. Words without meaning. But Damon had looked into my eyes and told me that _I_ was beautiful. I just didn't know how to process that...

"How come you're in New York?" Damon asked out of the blue. I took one of his french fries and dipped it in the sweet and sour dressing. I shrugged and gave him the simplest answer there was.

"I'm studying here. My dad was a doctor, so I wanted to do the same."

"So you're not originally from New York?" he asked and I shook my head.

"No, I'm from Mystic Falls, Virginia. My brother still lives there." I answered to clarify. Damon nodded, as if trying to show me that he understood. He looked thoughtful as he stared out the large glass window, down at the streets below us, and I asked what he was thinking of.

"I've never been there," he said, still looking out the window and not at me. I looked down at the streets as well, not quite understanding.

"You stood there just forty minutes ago," I remarked, a laugh lingering in my voice.

"No, not Times Square. I meant Mystic Falls. I've never been there." I threw my head back and laughed at that. Damon gave me a weird look, probably thinking that I had gone crazy just now. I must've truly looked like an insane person, the way I laughed like someone had just told a hilarious joke. In a way, Damon had just done that.

"I don't think I've ever met a person who's been to Mystic Falls without actually living there. You just don't go there for your holidays," I explained to Damon so that he'd understand why I found it so funny. He nodded but said nothing. I was suddenly afraid that I had made him feel bad about himself, embarrassed. But of course, Damon wasn't embarrassed. He brushed it off, laughed along with me and the conversation kept moving on.

"So what about you, Damon? What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling at him. Smiling back at me, he rested his chin on his hand. He was looking at me as if I was the most unusual and fascinating creature known to man. It made me feel special in a way I'd never experienced before. Damon made me feel special in a way I'd never experienced before...

"When Stefan and I were kids, we used to go here with our parents during the summers. We had a little house that we lived in up on Mount Pleasant. Do you know Thornwood?" he ended with a question. I shook my head.

"I've never been there but I've heard of it."

"Well, it's a beautiful place with beautiful houses. I loved it there and so did Stefan. When our parents passed away, we never went there again. But then Stefan decided to study in New York City and I'm here to visit him now. I'm supposed to go live in the house in Thornwood but I just can't bring myself to go there. It's full of memories of my childhood..." Damon's eyes turned dark. He was clearly remembering the days when he was young and his parents were alive.

"My parents are passed away too," I said, trying to make the situation less tense. Telling someone that your parents were dead could be kind of a conversation-killer, especially if the other person had theirs in life. And when I'd spoken those words, Damon's shoulders did relax a bit.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Losing your parents is-"

I finished the sentence for him, "-hard." He held my gaze for a long minute and then nodded. Suddenly, it felt as if I knew Damon on a much more personal level. He'd gone through the same type of emotions I had when Mom and Dad died. Another thought suddenly struck me though: why had Stefan never mentioned it? He knew about my parents, so why wouldn't he tell me the truth?

"It is hard," Damon said. "Stefan rarely speaks about it. He believes that if he never mentions it, it won't be true. Not even now when he's an adult."

"My younger brother does the same thing," I replied, thinking of Jeremy and how upset he got whenever I brought up the topic of our parents' death. He hated talking about it, acting as if he could pretend it never happened and that when he got home from school, Mom and Dad would be there waiting for him. This explained why Stefan never admitted it to me. He never spoke of his parents at all, never mentioned them, and now I knew why.

"How did they die?" Damon asked bluntly. It felt weird to talk about it. When my parents had died, people had said things like, "I'm sorry for your loss," and "Your parents were great people," but no one had asked about how they died. Of course, most people knew how they died. I almost died along with them.

"Jeremy was staying at home, he had some test to study for, not that I think he actually studied... Either way, my parents and I decided to visit some of their friends whom were hosting a barbeque. On our way home..." I trailed off, having to take a deep breath before continuing. "On our way home," I tried again. "my Dad lost control of the car and we drove off a bridge, into the water. The car sank and I somehow managed to get out, I don't even remember how, I think my window was a little bit opened so I was able to break it by kicking at it. My parents were stuck though, unable to get out with me. They drowned." The story had Damon looking wide-eyed at me. It usually did have people looking at me that way. The story was after all quite tragic. I basically watched my parents die. I knew that while I was swimming to reach solid ground, my parents were still down at the bottom, their life draining out of them.

"Both of my parents were killed. First Mom and then a couple of years later, when I was older, it was Dad's turn," Damon confessed. I tried not to gasp but failed. His parents were killed? No wonder Stefan didn't talk about it. When my parents died, it was an accident, but Damon just told me that their parents were killed - murdered.

"I'm so sorry," was the only thing I could make myself say. What was there really to say. I mean, "I'm sorry," wasn't exactly going to bring them back. Neither was, "I'm sorry for your loss," the one thing you heard wherever you went when someone close to you had passed away. Still, I felt as if I should say something, so that was what I settled for.

I stole another one of Damon's fries and popped it into my mouth. My fingers were full of salt so one finger at a time, I put it in my mouth and removed the salt, licking it clean. When I glanced up, I noticed that Damon was watching me, a dark look in his eyes. I realized how intimate this must've seemed. It was kind of hot actually.

"What do you say, do you want to grab a coffee and then start heading back?" Damon asked, his voice husky. I felt a tingling sensation travel throughout my entire body and I shivered. Something about Damon made me feel alive, made my body come alive. He made me react to him in ways no other man had ever done. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing just yet, but I was sure going to find out. All I knew was that there was something special about the man sitting across from me, and it was something I wanted to get familiar with.

"Sounds like a plan," I replied, pursing my lips, then licking my tongue along my bottom lip. Damon watched me do it and again, there was something incredibly hot about it. The kind of hot that makes you want to rip someone's clothes off right then and there.

 _Oh, come on, Elena,_ a voice in my head said to me. _You've known him for three days, barely that. You can't possibly be thinking these kind of things about him._

But I was. And I couldn't help myself. Couldn't stop myself.

Damon stood, offering me his hand and I took it, letting him help me up. The moment our skin touched, my entire body burst into flames - not literally. It was like an electric lightning bolt shot through him to me, and I think he felt it too. His eyes were wide and dark, gazing at me, like he couldn't quite figure me out. I sure as hell couldn't figure him out, so it was more than fair.

We made our way to Starbucks, which was just right across the square. I ordered a grande mocha latte and Damon a tall black coffee. I didn't see how people could drink such huge amount of coffee. Black coffee on top of that. We didn't sit down to drink but instead walked towards my apartment. There weren't a lot of tables to sit at either way, so it was better to just walk. A part of me was disappointed that we were going home. I didn't want the night to be over just yet. I wanted to keep talking to him. But I guess it had to end sooner or later.

We spoke of nothing in particular while walking together, side by side. He told me a bit about how he and Stefan had grown up and what he'd been doing all his life. He was mostly travelling around. He liked Europe so he often returned, especially to France. He knew French fluently so he had no trouble communicating there or in places like Switzerland and Belgium, along with much more countries. Hearing about his experiences was really interesting. It truly inspired me to start travelling as well. I wanted to see the places he described in such detail. I wanted to see the cities, the nature, wanted to smell the air and touch my feet to the ground there. The idea of going somewhere tempted me for the first time in a long time.

"Elena," Damon said when we reached my apartment building. I glanced over at him and he held my eyes with his. "I don't want this to be the last time I see you." He took a step towards me and raised his hand so that his fingers could trace my cheekbone, over my jawline and then drew his thumb over my bottom lip.

"Neither do I," I replied, the words coming out as a whisper. Damon seemed pleased with my response. He placed his other hand on the curve of my hip, drawing me closer to him. I could literally feel the heat from his body and mine got closer and closer. He lowered his face towards me, his lips only inches from mine. If I were to stand on my tip-toes, I'd kiss him. But I didn't. I'd let him close the space between us.

"Good," he whispered back, his voice husky and full of secrets and promises. I wanted to know all of those secrets and all of those promises. I wanted to know him, from top to toe. Inside and out.

Just as I thought he was leaning down to let his lips meet mine, he pulled back, standing up straight. I immediately missed his closeness, my body turning cold despite him only standing a feet away from me. I wanted his face as close as possible to mine. But Damon didn't lean back in and he didn't touch me. We just stood there and watched each other.

"Why does it feel as if we've known each other since forever?" Damon asked and finally, he lifted his hand up to my face again and cupped one of my cheeks. I leaned in to his touch. I thought about it and realized that he was right. It did feel as if we'd known each since forever. I wouldn't have been about to kiss him just now if I didn't feel that. Still it was crazy. I'd known Damon for less than three days and I was getting feelings for him. Romantic feelings.

I cleared my throat, realizing just now that all of this... it couldn't happen right now. I needed to know Damon, for real. He'd told me intimate details about his personal life, but I just wasn't sure that it was enough. I needed to get to know for real.

"I like you, Damon," I said. Damon's face lit up and a smirk spread over his lips.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in victory. "You don't hate me anymore." I laughed.

"I never hated you," I commented.

"Yes you did, it was obvious. You got pissed no matter what I said. And finally, you don't. Do you have any idea how great that is?" We both laughed. I had hated him a little bit I guess.

"No, but listen, Damon..." I said, serious again. "I like you, but I think we're moving too fast. We haven't even began to get to know each other for real yet, but I'd love to do that. And I think we should tell Stefan that we know each other." Damon's face went from happy and excited to horrified. His entire posture changed, turning rigid. It surprised me because it was almost the same reaction as when I'd asked him whether he wanted to see Stefan, the day we'd met at the campus. Even when we spoke of his brother, he seemed to get uncomfortable. Why was that?

"Don't tell Stefan," was all he said. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I opened my mouth to ask him why, but he interrupted me before I could even begin speaking, "Just don't tell him." There was such tension between us. Awkward tension, and really, all I wanted now was to climb the stairs and head up to my place. The desire to stay around Damon for just another minute was gone. I wanted to get away from him. Why couldn't I tell Stefan that we knew each other? It wasn't like we were dating, despite the fact that he'd almost kissed me tonight. Nothing had happened. It wasn't like Stefan could kick his ass for hanging out with me or eating at McDonalds together with me. So what the hell was his business? Was he ashamed of me? Didn't he want Stefan to know because he was embarrassed to be with me? Was he afraid that Stefan would think something that wasn't true and Damon would have to feel ashamed of it? If not any of those things, then what?

"I need to head up," I said, all sweetness and warmth that had been in my voice before, now vanished like a grain of sand in an ocean. Damon didn't even seem to care. He was too concentrated on whatever it was he was thinking about.

Despite that, he said, "I'll follow you up."

"No." He looked confused, so I clarified, "I don't need you to follow me up. I'll be fine." I paused, thinking about what to say next - if I was going to say something else. I settled for, "Thank you for tonight, Damon." I turned around and headed inside. The code to the building contained of six numbers: 658872

"Oh my God..." It came out as a gasped out whisper as it struck me. The door clicked open but I didn't step inside. Instead, I whirled around to face Damon again but he was already gone. Like he'd travelled with the wind. Vanished. No traces of him ever standing here. But I knew that he'd been here because he'd been in my apartment. He'd gotten into the building without me telling him the code. Twice. Once when I'd been unconscious. How the hell had he done that? Everyone living here was smart enough not to have told him and after the way he'd reacted to Stefan knowing about us, I doubted he'd been the one to tell his brother. So how did Damon know the code to my building?

I looked from side to side, trying to spot him walking down one of the streets. One of the streetlights flickered on and off, the lamp broken. The other ones cast a orange-yellow-ish light over the dark pavement. Still, no Damon. No man with black hair and brilliant blue eyes.

I turned around and typed in the code again, since the door had closed behind me. My mind was blank. No actually, it was focused on one single thought: who the hell was Damon Salvatore? A thousand questions formed around that thought. I didn't know if I should be scared of him or not. Damon didn't scare me and I think that I would've felt it if he did. He pissed me off sometimes but he never scared me. I wasn't afraid of him, I concluded. He was a mystery: a mystery that I wanted to solve.

I unlocked my apartment and stepped inside. I didn't bother to take my shoes off but headed straight for my computer. I threw my purse on the floor, knowing I wouldn't find it tomorrow but I didn't care. I typed in 'Damon Salvatore' in the Google search field. I got several links but most of them were ads. The only ones that were actually related to the Damon I was looking for, was his facebook page and contact details. Frustration almost made me throw the damn computer at the floor, but I held myself back. Destroying my computer wouldn't do me any good.

I decided to sleep on it and perhaps tomorrow I'd know what to do about all of this. I could call him of course, ask him directly. I had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't want to give me any answers though.

I headed to bed, not even caring to brush my teeth. I just undressed down to my underwear and jumped straight into bed, crawling under the cold covers. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about today. I'd woken up with butterflies in my stomach but I went to bed with a big lump in my throat. How on Earth was I going to get any rest until I knew the truth? Something about Damon wasn't right. Whether it was good or bad, I wasn't sure of until I knew what exactly that something was.

And that's when it hit me. When I realized how I would get my answers. There was only one person who truly knew Damon, and that person was his brother, Stefan. I wasn't entirely sure whether Stefan would have an answer or not to my question, but I knew that if he didn't no one would. I was sure however, that if he did have the answers, he'd share them.

I wasn't going to dwell over that now though. For now, I was just going to close my eyes and await the next day. It was going to be a long day full of questions and - hopefully - some answers... With that, my eyes closed and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

 **In order for no confusion to occur: the story is AH! So no, Damon is NOT a vampire. Guess you'll have to come up with another explanation... Okay, so again. This is the chapter where I'll really need your opinion! So leave a review, thumbs up or down? Yay or Nay? Tell me and what you think I should do better or keep doing! :D I really appreciate your support.**

 **XO**


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